New Releases
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February 21, 2020Pat Metheny's From This Place features ten compositions by Metheny, who is joined on the album by drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Linda May Han Oh, pianist Gwilym Simcock, the Hollywood Studio Symphony led by Joel McNeely, and special guests Meshell Ndegeocello (vocals), Gregoire Maret (harmonica), and Luis Conte (percussion). "From This Place is a kind of musical culmination," says Metheny, "reflecting a wide range of expressions that have interested me over the years, scaled across a large canvas, presented in a way that offers the kind of opportunities for communication that can only be earned with a group of musicians who have spent hundreds of nights together on the bandstand." Pre-order to download two tracks now.
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With a cast of legendary Chicano musicians, Cooder recounts the story of how a Mexican-American community was destroyed to make way for L.A.’s Dodger Stadium. Rolling Stone calls it “a remarkable song cycle … a brilliant and flavorful film-noir history lesson.” The 2019 two-LP vinyl edition was remastered from the original high-resolution source files and pressed on 140-gram vinyl. The set comes in a gatefold tip-on jacket with a twenty-page, full-color booklet.
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Kronos Quartet’s groundbreaking 2002 collaboration with composer Terry Riley, Sun Rings, is available in full for the first time. Riley incorporates into his composition "space sounds" (plasma waves) that NASA had collected from the Voyager probes, as well as a choir that represents, in his words, "the voice of humanity in its struggle to understand the meaning of our place in this unfathomable universe." Musical America calls it "a spaceship that faces ahead into the planets but also looks back toward its starting point on Earth." Grammy Award Nominee: Best Engineered Album, Classical.
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Donnacha Dennehy’s The Hunger explores the emotional, political, and socioeconomic devastation of Ireland’s Great Famine. Performed by Alarm Will Sound, soprano Katherine Manley, and sean nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, the libretto principally draws from rare, first-hand accounts by Asenath Nicholson, an American humanitarian so moved by the waves of immigrants arriving in New York that she traveled to Ireland to bear witness. It "bears hearing and rehearing," says the Washington Post. "It is powerful, and it makes a statement."
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The Black Keys' ninth studio album, "Let's Rock" is a return to the straightforward rock of the singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney's early days as a band. "When we're together we are The Black Keys, that's where that real magic is," says Auerbach, "and always has been since we were sixteen." "The record is like an homage to electric guitar," says Carney. "We took a simple approach and trimmed all the fat like we used to."
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Dawnbreaker is the debut album from Daughter of Swords, the solo project of Mountain Man's Alexandra Sauser-Monnig. These ten songs, inspired by a breakup that had yet to happen, lament the inevitable loss but, more important, outline the promise of the future. Working with Sylvan Esso's Nick Sanborn, Sauser-Monnig shaped what began as quiet reflections into confident compositions, crackling with country swagger and a sparkling pop warmth, preemptive odes to the next phase of life. Guests include Mountain Man's Amelia Meath and Molly Sarlé, bandleader Phil Cook, and guitarist Ryan Gustafson.
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Composer-performer Daniel Wohl’s album État features electro-acoustic pieces written by Wohl, with guest performances by Poliça’s Channy Leaneagh and co-production by Son Lux’s Ryan Lott and mmph. État, recorded with members of yMusic and the Calder Quartet, explores new dimensions of production. "While being fascinated with classically notated acoustic composition," says Wohl, "I also became interested in all the music production tools currently available and was drawn towards combining both methods."
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Brad Mehldau’s Finding Gabriel includes nine thematically related songs by Mehldau and features performances by him on piano, synthesizers, percussion, and Fender Rhodes, as well as vocals. Guest musicians include Ambrose Akinmusire, Sara Caswell, Kurt Elling, Joel Frahm, Mark Guiliana, Gabriel Kahane, and Becca Stevens, among others. "A soundtrack for our times," says the AP. "[T]he intricate arrangements of wordless vocals are fascinating, and among the singers is Mehldau, who happens to have a lovely voice. Fetching melodies abound." Grammy Award Nominee: Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
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Rhiannon Giddens’s album there is no Other, recorded with the multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, was produced by Joe Henry and tracked over five days in Dublin. The album is at once a condemnation of “othering” and a celebration of the spread of ideas, connectivity, and shared experience. "This is acoustic roots music at its most glorious," exclaims Uncut, "and Giddens is fast becoming the genre’s brightest star in the firmament." The double-vinyl edition includes four additional tracks, expanded liner notes, and photos from the recording session. Grammy Award Nominee: Best American Roots Performance, "I'm on My Way."